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Reading Hebrews 7:11-19 where we understand why Jesus needed to be of a priesthood greater than the line of Levi, and how His supremacy and permanence is good news for us. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Jesus is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. He has a priesthood that's even greater than the Levitical priesthood is, and that's good news for us, the hope of our salvation, when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of Hebrews, we're in chapter 7, and I'm going to pick up where I left off yesterday. So let me begin here by reading verses 11 through 19 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.
This is the Word of the Lord. Now, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.
For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.
For it is witnessed about him, you are a priest forever. According to the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment, because of its weakness and uselessness.
For the law made nothing perfect. And on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Remember the argument that's being presented here in chapter 7, is that Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Christ is the fulfillment of that statement made in Psalm 110, and we saw that repeated again here in Hebrews 7 .17. So since he's a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he has a priesthood that is even greater than the Levitical priesthood.
He fulfills the scope of those things that were assigned to the Levitical priesthood, but not the sequence of it. You know that expression, scope and sequence? So Christ fulfills the scope of the Levitical priesthood, but he's not a descendant of Aaron or of the Levites.
So it's not in the sequence of the Levitical priesthood. Christ is of the tribe of Judah. That's something that the preacher doesn't ignore. I mean, he draws it out right here in this particular section.
We'll get to that here in just a moment. But before picking up in verse 11, let me recap something we finished with yesterday, as we were looking at verses 1 through 10. Remember that one of the arguments here to how the Melchizedek priesthood is superior to the Levite priesthood is because Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, but Melchizedek paid tithes to no one.
Whereas with the Levites, the Israelites paid tithes to the Levitical priests, and even they had tithes that they had to pay. Plus, the Levite priests were in the loins of their father Abraham when he subjected himself to the king priest at Salem and paid tithes to Melchizedek.
That's stated right there in verse 10. Levi was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. So again, this is one of those arguments to show how the Melchizedek priesthood is greater than the Levite priesthood.
In Matthew 17, Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, and those who collected the two drachmataks came to Peter and said, Does your teacher not pay the two drachmataks? And Peter said, Yes. Then when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him, saying, What do you think, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth collect tolls or taxes? From their sons or from strangers? And when Peter said, From strangers, Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt. However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook and take the first fish that comes up.
And when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for me and for you. That's a reference to a coin that was going to be in the fish's mouth. If only you and I could pay taxes that way, right?
We'll just go fishing. And whatever money we get out of the fish, we can pay our taxes with that. It doesn't ever have to come out of our income. Anyway, that's not how we go about paying taxes. But one of the things that strikes me about that story, it's not exactly a parallel between that and what we have being stated here in Hebrews 7, 1 through 10.
But nonetheless, Jesus did not pay a temple tax, not by his own hand, not by his own work, money from his pocket into the temple tax. He had the tax paid so that it would not cause any offense, that somebody wouldn't say that Jesus was breaking the law.
He wouldn't be able to be accused of law-breaking. He's above reproach. Again, that's not exactly parallel with what we have in Hebrews 7, 1 to 10, but it does go to demonstrate that we have no account in the Gospels of Jesus paying a tithe.
He is of a higher priestly order than the Levite priests who did pay tithes. Jesus is of the priesthood of Melchizedek. Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek. Melchizedek gave Abraham blessing. Just as we read earlier in verse 7, the lesser is blessed by the greater.
So we give offerings unto Christ, and he gives us his blessings. Let's continue on with the section, verses 11 through 19 we're looking at today. Now, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of the Levites, the people received the law.
It was also through the Levites that sacrifices were offered for the forgiveness of sins. So if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?
And I love that the preacher even addresses this here. I don't know that I necessarily would have thought to ask the question, but surely among the Hebrews, maybe someone among the Hebrews would have raised that argument just because of how important the Levitical priesthood was.
I mean, we have the book of Leviticus. That's the law of God that was given to the people through the Levite priests. So of course the Levites were very, very important. Why wouldn't a Hebrew raise the argument and say, but why would we need a priest in the order of Melchizedek?
We have the Levitical priesthood, and the perfection of God has come to us through that, the giving of the law, the giving of sacrifices. All of that has been through the Levites. So why do we need a priest of a higher order than that?
Verse 12, for when the priesthood is changed of necessity, there takes place a change of law also. Do you see where this is going? This is going to get fleshed out a little bit more later on. But if there's a change in the priesthood, there's a change in the law.
If Christ had come in the order of the Levitical priests, then what by necessity would have to continue? It would still be the same order of the Levites. There would still be the giving of sacrifices.
There would still be the giving of tithes. All of those things that are connected with the Levites would have to continue on if Christ was in that order of the Levitical priesthood. He fulfills the obligations that the Levite priest had to do as priest for Israel.
Christ does that, but he is not one, again, in the sequence of the Levitical priest. He is not born in that order. He was not born a descendant of the tribe of Levi. He's born a descendant of the tribe of Judah.
And so since he is of a priesthood greater than the Levitical priest, then there's a change of law, a change of those law requirements, things that Christ has fulfilled that we do not have to continue in any longer, like the sacrifice of bulls and goats.
Like I said, an argument that gets fleshed out a little bit later on, but at least we have this presentation here and we're going to continue as we study in Hebrews. So in verse 13, for the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has officiated at the altar.
From the tribe of Judah, no one has ever officiated at the altar of God. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.
There's nothing in the law about how someone from the tribe of Judah is obliged to have to do something with the sacrifices and things like that. There's nothing in the law of Moses about that. And this is clearer still, verse 15, if another priest arises, according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such, not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.
Now what's being said here is that Jesus has been appointed to his priestly office by a special law. Otherwise, how was it that a person became a priest in Israel? Well, you had to be a Levite. You had to be descended from the tribe of Levi.
Or you had to be descended from Aaron in order to have a high priestly status. But Jesus is of a superior priesthood, and it doesn't come by a law of physical requirement. In other words, it's not because he was born into it or that he fulfilled some sort of duty in order to acquire it.
But he has received this appointment according to the power of an indestructible life. And who could fulfill that but one who has conquered death itself? Jesus, who rose from the dead. Jesus, who perfectly accomplished the law, fulfilled all of the law's requirements, but it was even greater than that.
It was that he conquered death itself. He who died and rose again from the dead by the power of his indestructible life. He is the only one who could therefore stand in the office of the priesthood of Melchizedek.
He who is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Only Christ can receive that. And remember, one of those characteristics of Melchizedek is that he has no lineage. There's no genealogy.
He's without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God and remains a priest continually. That was Hebrews 7 .3. So the only one who can therefore fulfill that office is Jesus.
There is no other one. Now, like I said before about Melchizedek yesterday, this statement about him in Hebrews 7 .3 does not mean that he himself was the Son of God. But just as everything is presented for us in that way in the book of Genesis, in Genesis 14, where he has his exchange with Abraham, we know so little about this man.
There's nothing said about his lineage. We don't know that he's died. He doesn't give up his office or anything. Nothing like that is said in Genesis. So of all that we know of Melchizedek, he has no beginning and no end.
So who could fulfill his office? Someone who likewise has no beginning and no end. And that's Jesus Christ. Indeed, his earthly ministry has a definite beginning. That's what we think about here at Christmastime.
We remember the incarnation of the Son of God who came into this world. But Jesus himself is without beginning and without end. The Alpha and the Omega. He was in the beginning with God, as said in John 1.
He is God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is Jesus Christ. The only one who can therefore fulfill this office according to the power of an indestructible life.
Verse 17, For it is witnessed about him, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. So this statement that's made in Psalm 110 can only be about Christ and no one else. This isn't the sort of a thing where it's like, well, we're looking for someone to fulfill the office of Melchizedek.
Who are the people around that meet these requirements? Okay, you, you. Let's look at your resume. We've got these different people who could potentially be a priest, a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
So which one of these persons are we going to deem to be most qualified? Jesus wasn't one of a list. He is the only one. The only one who was going to fulfill this particular office. This statement that was said in Psalm 110 about the one who would sit at the right hand of God until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet.
The only one about whom Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. The only one this could be about is Jesus. The Lord is at your right hand.
He will crush kings in the day of his anger. He will render justice among the nations and will fill them with corpses. He will crush the head that is over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the wayside.
Therefore, he will lift up his head. All of this talking about Christ. He is the one who fulfills. He is the one who is the rightful claim to the priesthood of Melchizedek. A priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
So verse 18. For on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness. And that's talking about how the Levitical priesthood could never have been the priesthood that would fulfill all of the requirements even of that priesthood of what that office entailed.
So there's a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness. Verse 19. For the law made nothing perfect. And on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God.
And that is Jesus Christ. So the Melchizedek priesthood, a greater hope than what the Levitical priesthood was. The Levitical priesthood could not fulfill even its own demands. If we were left to the Levitical priesthood, it would continue to be doing over and over and over again what it was set to do.
And we would still be doing that. It would never come to an end. But because Jesus is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, we're not in those Levitical priesthood requirements of having to sacrifice bulls and goats in order to atone for sins.
Christ is a greater priest who has fulfilled these things. Now notice that statement there. It's in parentheses in my Bible. I'm not sure in your translation if it is written out that way in verse 19.
But the law made nothing perfect. Remember that. The law made nothing perfect. Now the law itself is perfect. Right? Psalm 19 .7 says that. The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple.
But it doesn't make us perfect. It can't. Because we have no ability to keep the law perfectly. Only Jesus did that. Only he did it, from the beginning to the end of his earthly ministry. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.
Being virgin-born and not conceived of the seed of man, he does not inherit Adam's sin nature. Every single person who would be descended of Adam inherits his sin nature. As David even said in Psalm 51, In sin my mother conceived me.
But because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not of the seed of man, he does not have a sin nature, even from his very conception. He is the only one who was born without sin and could therefore live a life that was free from sin.
Perfectly fulfilling all of the law's requirements. Jesus is the only one that could do that. The law could not make us perfect. Even if we kept the law, we wouldn't be made perfect because there's still sins that we had done, that we had committed in breaking the law.
We had rebelled against God. We had broken his righteous command. So the law could not make us perfect. We have this understanding also in Romans 8. Beginning in verse 1, I just want to read it because it's such a great verse.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Now listen here to verse 3. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
But that's only when we know that Christ has fulfilled all the righteous requirement of the law. He has given himself as an atoning sacrifice for us. By faith in him we are forgiven our sins and we are justified.
That was stated earlier in Romans 5, 1. We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and so now being justified and given his Spirit, so we are able to fulfill the requirements of the law because the Spirit of God is in us.
Not because of anything that we do but because of what God does in us. It is Jesus who has made us righteous. We cannot be righteous just by doing good things. We put our faith in Jesus and he gives us his righteousness.
Consider a little bit later on in Romans 8 beginning in verse 6. The mind that is set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not even able to do so.
And those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. So it's impossible for us to be made perfect by the law. We are made perfect by the Son. Jesus Christ who forgives us our sin, who clothes us in his righteousness and makes us right before the Father.
Christ is the one who has accomplished these things and so now we have a better hope through him, through Jesus we draw near to God. And my friends if you have that, if you have the righteousness of Christ that you have been clothed in, then you must live in that righteousness.
Today be obedient unto the Lord. Your sins are forgiven. You have been made right before God. We are sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And so now through Christ live unto his name, in his righteousness, do what he has asked of us to do.
Because as Jesus said to his disciples, John 14, 15, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments. If we know Jesus, if we love him, if we have his righteousness, live in that righteousness today.
And where we are weak, where you fail to keep that righteousness, come back to him again. God, forgive me. And give me the power to be able to live for you today. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here.
Some deep spiritual truths as we're coming into this in Hebrews 7. But there's truly some real application to it. First of all, knowing that Christ is our hope. Our dependence is not upon ourselves but on Jesus Christ who fulfilled these things for us.
But secondly, and also knowing that we have been given the righteousness of Christ so that we could live for you today. That we would live in this righteousness. That we would show ourselves to be a kingdom of priests as it is said we are in 1 Peter 2, 9.
We are a holy priesthood unto the Lord. So teach us, as your priests, how we are to live in this world today. And even extending the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the grave so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.
Thank you for the life that you give to us. In your name we pray. Amen.
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Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.